Anyone speak Taiwanese?

Question

I'm Taiwanese and Taiwanese is my first language. Growing up, I never met many people that actually spoke Taiwanese. Most Taiwanese speak Chinese and English, and I think that's sad, not knowing your own language.

Just out of curiosity, how many of you actually speak Taiwanese? NOT Mandarin, NOT Hakka, TAIWANESE!!!

Answer 1

I'm Taiwanese, as well :) My grandparents and their generation spoke mostly Taiwanese. Especially in the south, I've met plenty of people that spoke it in Taiwan when I visited there numerous times XD

Even though English was my first language I ever spoke in (born in NY), Taiwanese was my first FLUENT language. I agree it's sad. I myself forgot it over time from living in the US so long. (I regret it a lot!) But the least I can do now is understand it by ear XD ...

Answer 2

My husband is from Taiwan. His mom is "native" Taiwanese and his dad is an immigrant to Taiwan from Zhejiang Province. Though his mom's family speaks Taiwanese when they are together, my husband can only understand a little (same with da cheng dialect.) Most young people we know cannot speak Taiwanese either, but I think that is because they all come from families whose parents are "da cheng ren." Even though they were born in Taiwan, they will say they are Chinese, not Taiwanese--which is hard for Americans to understand :-) I think perhaps if they were "native" Taiwanese, it may be different.

I also wanted to add in response to the last entry--Mandarin is "guo yu" and Taiwanese is "min nan hua"--they are different dialects that sound nothing like one another :-)

Answer 3

When I traveled around Taiwan, I knew more and more young generation people don't speak Taiwanese. It sucks because they think Taiwanese represents low social class.

I will never think like that. I speak English, Mandarin, and Contonese. And now... I am going to learn Spanish.

It is always good to know one more language!

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Actually lots of people in Singapore or Malaysia also speak Taiwanese. But they call it "Fu-Jo Hua". So, this language is not a rare language. Also, I like Singapore becauz you can talk in multi-languages. (Eng, Mandarin, Fu-Jo, Contonese)

If Taiwanese also do that, it would be very interesting.

Answer 4

i know for sure at least 25% of the population can speak taiwanese fluently. in the more rural areas, they speak taiwanese as primary and mandarin as secondary, with a heavy taiwanese accent when speaking mandarin. in the cities, especially among the younger generation, mandarin is the primary language, while most people can still understand taiwanese but not necessarily speak it well. the older people tend to speak more taiwanese, especially all the grandpas and grandmas. but mandarin is much more common than taiwanese nowadays. if you can speak only mandarin, you can go by in taiwan pretty well.

Answer 5

Where did you grow up? I know a large number of people who speak Taiwanese, outside of Taiwan. I know even more people who speak Taiwanese inside of Taiwan, although not so many in Taibei. My Taiwanese is conversational.

Answer 6

eh. I lived in taiwan for a while. though i can't speak it, i can understand it.

most modern taiwanese speak mandarin chinese because mandarin chinese is the official language. *shrug*

technically that IS my "own" half language i guess. being only half taiwanese.

Answer 7

hello
my parents can speak Taiwanese, since they are from Taiwan, but isn't Taiwanese the same as Mandarin?

Answer 8

No I don't speak taiwanese. Who in their right mind would want to learn it anyway?

Also, taiwanese is hardly a language;it is merely a dialect.

Answer 9

complex factor. look into at google. that can assist!